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Who developed the first automotive antilock brake system?

April 17, 2013

Skidding is fun...right up until the moment it becomes terrifying. ABS can help keep your wheels spinning. Photo by South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy

Along with seatbelts, fuel injection and airbags, most modern drivers take antilock braking systems for granted. The basic, fiery-death-avoiding concept is easy enough to grasp: ABS prevents wheels from locking up during extreme braking, maintaining vehicle control while also slowing down as quickly as possible.

In practice, ABS proved to be tough to implement -- and almost as tough to sell to consumers. The concept has existed for decades, but despite the development of aircraft antiskid systems and an early experimental motorcycle application, ABS has only been found on cars for a little less than 50 years.

That gap between development and implementation closed when Maxaret installed one of its antiskid systems on the 1966 Jensen FF. But Maxaret's solution was purely mechanical, and while it was relatively effective, later electronically controlled systems added reliability.

So, who was first to reach that particular milestone? Head to Hagerty to find out. Here's a hint: Despite Mercedes-Benz's claims, Koscs says that it was an American manufacturer who offered consumers electronic ABS.

Graham Kozak
- Graham Kozak drove a 1951 Packard 200 sedan in high school because he wanted something that would be easy to find in a parking lot. He thinks all the things they're doing with fuel injection and seatbelts these days are pretty nifty too.
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